Fragrant Hills Park (Xiangshan Park)

2012-10-08

Situated in the east part of
western hills, 28 kilometers (17 miles) northwest of the Beijing City, Fragrant
Hills Park is a large park of hills and forest covering 160 hectares (395.4
acres). Both its natural sceneries and cultural relics are abundant. Xianglu
Peak (Incense Burner Peak), 557 meters (1827.4 feet) high, is its highest
peak.

The park was first built in 1186 in
the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) and later extended to a large scale in the Yuan and
Ming dynasties. In 1745, Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799) ordered the addition of
many new halls, pavilions and gardens and gave it a new name, Jingyi Garden
(Garden of Tranquility and Pleasure). Unfortunately, in 1860 and 1900 after the
Summer Palace and the Yuanming Yuan (the Old Summer Palace) were set on fire,
lots of relics in the Fragrant Hills were damaged by foreign troops. Since 1949,
with a half-century's restoration and development by Chinese government,
Fragrant Hills Park has been recognized as one of the ten most famous parks in
Beijing.

The most spectacular natural
scenery in the Fragrant Hills Park is the red smoke tree leaves over the
mountains. When autumn arrives, fiery red leaves blanket the entire mountain.
Every year, thousands of tourists come to the park. The cable cars are a great
way to take in the beautiful scenes.

Visitors may take two main routes
to explore the park. The first one is to go along the north route, where
visitors will see Spectacles Lake (Yanjing Lake), Study of Reading Heart
(Jianxin Zhai), Bright Temple (Zhao Miao), etc. Spectacles Lake is a lake
divided half by a bridge. Study of Reading Heart was built in the Ming Dynasty
(1368-1644) and was noted as the park inside Fragrant Hills Park. Bright Temple
is a large Tibetan style lamasery complex built in 1780 as the residence for the
sixth Panchen Lama during his visits to Emperor Qianlong. Buildings in the
complex have partially been burned down. Among the surviving treasures are a
majestic glazed-tiled archway in front of the complex, a Tibetan style terrace
and a glazed-tiled pagoda. Bells hung on the eaves of the pagoda chime in
breeze.

Another route leads to the south
area of the park. Main attractions along the route include Tranquility Green
Lake (Jingcui Lake), Shuangqing Villa, Fragrant Temple, Incense Burner Peak,
etc. This route is a little hard for the highest peak, Incense Burner Peak.
However it is worthwhile to try. One of the 'must see' points of interest is the
Shuangqing Villa, which is attractive not for its natural beauty but more for
its place in Chinese history - it was once the residence of Chairman Mao Zedong
as well as an early sight for the headquarters of the Central Committee of the
Chinese Communist Party.

The alluring beauty of Fragrant
Hills Park waits for you to appreciate all it has to offer.

Fragrant Hill is one the most
famous places in China to see the red leaves. Red Leaves Festival is held every
Mid-October to early November. That is the busiest time of Fragrant Hills Park.
Travelers had better go there in week days to avoid great number of visitors in
the weekends.

Best places to see red leaves in
the park:

1. Tranquility Green Lake (Jingcui
Lake) - Walk 5 minutes from the east gate of the park, you will arrive in the
lakeside. It is the nearest from the park entrance. The lake area is surrounded
by hills in three directions, so, you need to find a good point of view to see
and take pictures.

Best time to see red leaves: circa
October 25 - November 9

2. Fragrant Hills Temple (Xiangshan
Temple)

The temple is in the south hill
foot close to Shuangqing Villa. First built in Tang Dynasty, the temple is the
origin of Fragrant Hill's culture. Be cautious of many steps in this
area.

Best time to see red leaves: circa
October 18 - November 2

3. Heshun Gate:

It is on the south hillside, 300
meters above the ground. It is close to the red leave trees.

Best time to see red leaves: circa
October 25 - November 9

4. Yuhua Xiu:

This is the largest flat area in
the park and the road to it from the east gate of the park is even, within 20
minutes' walk along the middle road. There is broad field of vision.

Best Time to see red leaves:
October 18 - November 4

5. Xiangwu Ku (literally Fragrant
Mist Cave)

It has classical garden environment
on the hillside. It takes over half an hour to climb up to this
place.

Route 3: North gate of the Fragrant
Hill Park - cable car station - hill top

Tips: It is 5 minutes' walking
distance from the north gate of the park southward to the cable car. By cable,
you can get to the hill top nearly 20 minutes later. You can have a bird-eye
view of Biyun Temple (Temple of Azure Clouds) and overlook the red leaves
afar.